[Sam] Huntington will play a new caveman character, Andy, who is the younger brother of Joel (Bill English). Andy, who lives in their small hometown, comes to Atlanta to visit his brother after breaking up with his girlfriend.

Andy will replace Jamie, Joel's easygoing little bother character played in the pilot by Dash Mihok. [...]

The ABC Studios-produced "Cavemen" will not launch with the pilot but with another yet-to-be-filmed first episode, which is said to be delving more into the cavemen's backstories.

The original pilot (with Jamie's scenes reshot) is expected to air later in the season.

If these panicked changes don't improve Cavemen's focus-group scores, ABC is ready to make still more radical changes that could save their bold primetime experiment. Shooting will begin shortly on an alternate pilot introducing a recurring series element in which the Cro-Magnons depilate themselves at the beginning of each episode to reduce audience discomfort with their unconventional, unevolved appearance, but should that effort not appease fickle viewers, they're also considering merging the series with planned Tuesday night lead-out Carpoolers, incorporating a new character who bores his fellow ride-sharers with stories about how Geico's ultra-low premiums have significantly reduced the stress of his daily commute.

• 'Cavemen' digging deeper [THR]
• Previously: Defamer First Look: 'Cavemen' [Defamer]

[Writer-director Andrew] Dominik, a New Zealand filmmaker who rose to prominence with the 2000 crime drama "Chopper" starring Eric Bana, wanted to deliver a dark, contemplative examination of fame and infamy, in the spirit of director Terrence Malick ("The New World"), according to several people familiar with the production. The studio, on the other hand, wanted less contemplation and more action, closer to Clint Eastwood's filmmaking style, sources said. [...]

Various versions of the film were assembled and tested, with Pitt, producer Ridley Scott ("Gladiator") and editor Michael Kahn ("Saving Private Ryan") either overseeing new cuts of the film or suggesting revisions, according to people familiar with the process.

Early test scores were poor, but some who have seen the film say the performances by Pitt and especially [Casey] Affleck are among the best in their careers.

We can only hope relative Hollywood newbie Dominik will eventually come to terms with the studio-mandated changes to his film, ultimately agreeing that a final, tacked-on sequence was exactly what Jesse James needed to reach an emotionally resonant and dramatically satisfying climax. Surely, test audiences would give the movie glowing marks if it culminated in the star stripping off his torso-obscuring, old-timey shirt and wool vest, thus allowing his chiseled abs to glisten in the honey light of the setting sun as he faces down his yellow-bellied assassin for a CGI-enhanced bullet-time shoot-out.

[Photo: Kimberley French / Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.]

• Brad Pitt's 'Jesse James' comes under fire [LAT]